2008 SEMINAR FO SEMINAR FOR R NE NEW W MISS MISSIO ION N PRES PRESID IDEN ENTS TS — 2008
Our M issi issionary onary Purpose Elder D. Todd Christofferson Christoff erson Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Sunday, June 22, 2008 It is my assignment and blessing to spend some time with you at the outset of this seminar to consider the question, "What is my purpose as a miss missio iona nary ry?" ?" Follo Followi wing ng up on the the visi vision on and and direction of the President of the Church, this is certainly the right starting point for our four days of preparation and training together. You will, of course, recognize this question—What is my purpose?—as the title of chapter one of Preach My Gospel. The answer, summarized into one sentence, is given there as follows: "Invite others others to come come unto unto Christ Christ by helpin helping g them them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Jesus Christ Christ and His Atoneme Atonement, nt, repenta repentance, nce, bap tism, tis m, receiv rec eiv ing the gift gif t of the Hol y Gho st, and enduring to the end." My own purpose today is, with the Spirit's help, to persuade you that you must do what it takes to internalize this missionary purpose so that you believe it in your mind, feel it in your heart, accept it in your soul, and act upon it as your commission; and, further, that you will do what it takes to cause t he he s am am e t o h ap a p pe pe n w it it h e ac a c h o f y o ur ur missionaries. It has become customary in some missions for the the miss missio ionar narie iess to memo memori rize ze the purpos purposee statement and perhaps repeat it in unison at zone zone confer conferenc ences. es. This This practi practice ce is harml harmless ess enough and can even be helpful if it reminds missionaries of their purpose and creates some enthusiasm for the work. If you think, however, that this will be sufficient to give missionaries an understanding of the purpose, I must tell you, you, you you are mistaken mistaken.. If you suppos supposee that that recitation alone will cause them to center their
w or o r k i n t he h e p u rp rp o se se , I 'm 'm a fr f r ai a i d y ou ou a re re dreami dreaming. ng. You will need to underst understand and the purp pu rpos osee thor th orou ou ghly gh ly your yo ur self se lf,, be liev li ev e it, it , and an d then teach it throughout your mission, and, with the help of your assistants and zone and distr district ict leader leaders, s, you will will need need to explai explain n and demonstrate how the purpose both inspires and guides missionary missionary work. Otherwise, Otherwise, you run the risk of having missionaries who are busy but with little to show for all their apparent effort. For some reason, it is remarkably difficult to reach the point where the missionary purpose drives missionary work. It will be a continuing challenge for you and for your missionaries to keep clear the distinction distinction between the purpose, on the one hand, and the means used to achieve the purpose, on the other hand. It is so easy for the means to become the end, for us to lose ourselves in missionary activities such that they beco be co me en ds in them th emse selv lves es.. Fo r ex ampl am ple, e, as you teach the missionaries in different aspects of the work, they may begin to act as if their purpose purp ose is to teach lessons, lesso ns, or to talk to anyone anyo ne and everyone they can about the Church, or to set goals and make plans. These things and others taught in Preach My Gospel are Gospel are important activities, vitally important, and you need to help missionaries become good at them, but unless the missionaries consistently see and use them as means to an end—bringing people to Christ—they will concentrate on the activity as their purpose rather than conversion. Consid Consider er some some exampl examples es of the differ differenc encee between betwee n what wha t happens hap pens when w hen missionar m issionary y work is
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centered in the missionary purpose versus what m ay h ap pe n w he n t he f oc us i s o nl y o n missionary activities: 1)If missionaries are purpose-driven, they teach people in a way that helps them truly understand the gospel and why and how they should repent. If the missionaries' fo cu s is not on their purpose, they may simply teach to achieve a certain number of lessons taught per week. In that case, they will be trying to get through the lesson rather than really listening and responding to what is in the investigator's mind and heart. They will be sharing information rather than offering salvation, and those are two very different experiences for an investigator (and for a missionary). 2)Missionaries who forget their purpose might "open their mouths" and engage in finding activities to fill the teaching pool with a particular number of bodies without seeking and listening to the Spirit to discern who is feeling the Spirit as they talk. Finding will be focused on numbers without reference to the potential for conversion. 3)Without the missionary purpose in mind, the daily planner is likely to serve simply as a schedule and appointment calendar. How ever, with the purpose u ppermost, the planner will b ecome a tool for ensuring that the things that need to happen to produce an outcome, that is, to bring about conversion and baptism, are, in fact, identified, remembered, and made to happen with regard to each individual investigator. Otherwise, a missionary is likely to fall into the trap of thinking that the measure of his success is busyness. 4)A missionary who has internalized his purpose will look forward to his daily opportunity to feast upon the word of God
D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSQN because his study will have purpose. He will be searching for answers to his investigators' questions of the soul, as well as his own. He will be looking for guidance on how to teach and lead investigators in the path of repentance. Without this sense of purpose, a missionary is likely to be less enthusiastic about individual and companion study. While he may devote the time, it will be without the fire that could later imbue his teaching with the spirit of revelation and prophecy. (See Alma 17:2-3; 43:2; D&C 11:21,25-26.) (5) A missionary might go through the motions of inviting people to attend Church because he believes that that is what missionaries are supposed to do. However, when the missionary purpose is burning in his heart, the missionary understands that participation in Church is essential for the investigator to develop a stronger desire for baptism and to establish a foundation for enduring to the e nd i n t he g o sp el c ov en an t. W it h t he ultimate purpose in mind, the invitation to attend Church will have greater urgency, the explanation of the importance of Sabbath worship and what to expect in an LDS Sunday service will be different, the spirit that attends the missionaries' words will have a persuasive power that would not otherwise be present. Please do not ignore chapter one of Preach My Gospel and its question: "What is my purpose as a missionary?" When missionaries have internalized the purpose of bringing people to Christ through the principles and ordinances of the restored gospel, they will understand that missionary work is not a program, it is a cause—the cause of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They will understand that they are not salesmen or technicians but divinely authorized and commissioned teachers of
OUR MISSIONARY PURPOSE
righteousness. They will understand that the world has no access to atoning grace and salvation but through them and the Church they represent, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They will understand what they and this work are all about, and they will be up and abou t their Father's business. As the sons of Mosiah, they will teach "with power and authority of God" (Alma 17:3).
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L or d a nd b y H is p ow er t o f ul fi ll t hi s commission. Remember the commission is not only to warn others, but to save them, not only to teach, but to baptize, not only to bring others unto Christ, but to make them steadfast in Christ to the end.
Our invitation to the world is to come unto Christ. "Coming unto Christ" is an abbreviation, a way of describing in three words the The missionary purpose, for me, captures the pla n of salva tion. It means to obtain the fruits majesty of this work. What endeavor could be o f H is A to ne me nt a nd R es ur re ct io n— more magnificent than bringing the children of ultimately eternal life. Eternal life is dependent God to ultimate salvation through the grace of on the exercise of our moral agency, but it is their Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ? This is possible only through the grace of Jesus Christ. the Savior's great commission to His apostles in To come unto Him means to do what is ancient and modern times, as Elder Hinckley required to lay hold upon that grace—the reminded us. The Savior's parting command- pardoning, sanctifying, transforming, redeeming ment to His apostles in Galilee was "Go ye power of His infinite, atoning sacrifice. therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them The purpose statement expresses how this takes in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). In our place for each person. First he or she hears the restored gospel, the good news of salvation day, He has reiterated the commission in these words, "Purify your hearts before me; and then through Christ. In Paul's words: go ye into all the world, and preach my gospel For whosoever shall call upon the name of unto every creature who has not received it; the Lord shall be saved. And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not, and is not How then shall they call on him in whom baptized, shall be damned. For unto you, the they have not believed? and how shall they Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who beli eve in him of whom th ey ha ve not are appointed with you to be your counselors heard? and how shall they hear without a a nd y ou r l ea de rs , i s t he p ow er o f t hi s preacher? priesthoo d given, for the last days and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the And how shall they preach, except they be fullness of times" (D&C 112:28-30). sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the This great commission is extended to you by apostolic authority. You are called and set apart under that authority, as are the missionaries you will have the honor and privilege to preside over. You and they stand as companions to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. You and your missionaries have the right and duty to go forth in the name of the
feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:13-15) How beautiful are your feet and the feet of your missionaries as you come, sent under divine authority, to declare the glad tidings. This good news, the gospel, is best expressed by Jesus himself in the Book of Mormon record. His
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words could be the subject of more than one d oc tr in al d is co ur se b y yo u a s yo u h el p missionaries understand their grand purpose. Preach My Gospel refers you to 2 Nephi, chapter 31, and to 3 Nephi, chapters 11 and 27, among other scriptures. Let me read verses 13 through 15 in 3 Nephi 27: Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil— And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. (3 Nephi 27:13-15) Thus, at its foundation, the gospel or good news is that we have a Father in Heaven who, be cause of His love for us, sent His Only Begotten Son to redeem us from sin and from death. The Son, in perfect obedience to the Father to whom He gives the glory, offered His life to that end. He purchased us with His blo od, and we answer to Him for our lives. He is now our Judge. He is justice personified. The gospel message of glad tidings further declares that because of His atoning sacrifice, Jesus is also mercy personified. His mercy, merits, and grace are sufficient to pardon and cleanse us so that in that Day of Judgment we may stand holy and without spot before Him (see 2 Nephi 2:8 and Moroni 10:32-33). The missionary purpose
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explains what must be done for this to happen. As stated there, it requires "faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." Let me refer to the next verses in 3 Nephi 27 as the Savior finishes His statement of what constitutes His gospel: And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled [with the Holy Ghost]; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world. And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end. Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel. (3 Nephi 27:16, 19-21) As a missionary teaches and bears testimony of this gospel by the Spirit, those who are willing to hear will receive sufficient witness to begin to have faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. That faith will give them the will to repent if the missionary, again by the Spirit, can teach them what changes they need to make, and invites a nd c om mi ts t he m t o a ct . T he u lt im at e c om mi tm en t t he m is si on ar y i nv it es t he investigator to accept and act upon is baptism in water. This baptism is followed by, o r better
OUR MISSIONARY PURPOSE
said, completed by, the reception of the Holy Ghost, which brings a remission of sins and sanctification (see 2 Nephi 31:17). This condition of standing justified and spotless before the Lord can be preserved throughout life if one continues to live by faith, repenting as needed, and reinvigorating the baptismal pr omises. We call that endu ring to the end. Such a one will have no fear of being judged according to his works for they will have been the works of faith and repentance and baptism of water and Spirit. Hyrum Smith's statement captured in Preach My Gospel is profound: "Preach the first principles of the Gospel—preach them over again; you will find that day after day new ideas and additional light concerning them will be revealed to you. You can enlarge upon them so as to comprehend them clearly. You will then be able to make them more plainly understood by those [you] teach" (Preach My Gospel, 6). In this statement, Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch, is explaining that these first principles, the heart of the gospel, are not fully comprehended in o ne r ev ie w. A dd ed l ig ht a nd d ee pe r understanding will come over time in multiple revelatory experiences. And remember that this growing comprehension comes not only from study, but also from teaching. If the missionary studies, prepares and teaches the gospel principles by the Spirit, the n not only will he " be a bl e t o m ak e t he m mo re p la in ly understood," the Spirit will also instruct and bear witness to the missionary as he teaches. The key for you in this undertaking, as in all aspects of the missionary cause in this latter-day dispensation, is the Book of Mormon. Elder David A. Bednar will speak to you later on this
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subject, and I endorse in advance what he will teach, knowing that he truly knows whereof he speaks. Let me simply say at this point that the why, the what, and the how of missionary work is more compellingly proclaimed in the Book of Mormon than anywhere else. It is filled with examples of missionaries who understood and labored to fulfill the missionary purpose. It contains the clearest expositions anywhere in scripture of the fundamental doctrines that missionaries teach. It carries a converting spirit and a witness of the truth of these same doctrines. It will convert missionaries as well as investigators. The Book of Mormon establishes Jesus Christ in His true character as the Son of God and holy Messiah. It inspires faith in Him. It brings people to Christ. We are eternally indebted to its authors and to the Prophet Joseph Smith for the Book of Mormon. Teach from it when you enlighten your missionaries about their purpose, and they will hear it, love it, and act upon it. I leave with you my witness concerning the Book of Mormon. As the Lord lives, it is true. Its testimony of Jesus Christ is true. Its translator, Joseph Smith, is the great prophet of the Restoration. It is our privilege and duty to invite and help others come unto Christ. I bear witness of your purpose and calling and that of your missionaries—your authority to speak and testify and baptize is real and comes from God. You are His, and His hand is upon you. I rejoice to be your fellow servant and invoke upon you the companionship and gifts of the Holy Spirit and the blessings of Him whom you represent, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
